A 15-Day Blog Challenge: Searching for Brilliance

When I started Tiny Steps Mommy nearly 15 months ago, I didn’t know that I would become “a blogger.” I just wanted to write and have a creative outlet for myself. But, it seemed that once I started writing and people starting reading, I couldn’t get enough. I was writing three new blog posts a week and the ideas just flowed. In the shower, lying in bed, in the car… my blogs wrote themselves.

It was like a new relationship. I would get little butterflies as I hit publish. Then I would re-read my blog post several times throughout the day. I became obsessed with my page views and blog statistics, checking every hour to see if anyone else had read what I wrote.

Now that I have settled into a routine, I find the honeymoon period starting to fade. I still get a thrill from publishing a piece and sometimes the words start to form within my head when I least expect it, but other times I have to force myself to sit down and produce. Then I start to feel guilty when too many days go by between blog posts.

I want to turn my writing into something more. I have many aspirations for myself and they all include writing. Maybe this is where the guilt stems from. One new post a week is below my own standards. I want to do more and grow. So, I decided to challenge myself to write a new blog post every weekday in June leading up to my family vacation. So, starting today that means 15 new posts.

I would blog on the weekend, but as long as I can control my life my weekends are dedicated to my family. It’s so easy to get sucked into the virtual world, or spend hours working on my site. So, I will not extend the challenge to include weekends.

I know this blog challenge is a good exercise in self-discipline, but perhaps it will force me to share a little more of myself with my readers. There is a brilliance in the ability to reveal your true self to others. I hope to be brilliant at least one of the 15 days. I hope to show my heart and simply be honest in who I am while proving that I have the sticking power to commit to writing and hit publish every day.

If you have a blog and would like to join me on this journey, please do so using the link-up below. There are no rules. There are no pre-determined topics. If you can find the time to comment and visit everyone else to show support that would be amazing, but there are no requirements. Just write and be you for 15 Days in June.

Nicole Dash is a writer, blogger and business owner who lives in the suburbs outside Washington, DC with her husband and four children. She started her career as a journalist and copy editor. She also managed public relations and corporate communications for a national franchise company, but in 2006 started a child care business. In 2012, she launched Tiny Steps Mommy, a lifestyle and parenting blog that quickly gained a following and connected her to an expansive group of women-owned businesses. In 2013, she started a digital marketing consulting business that focused on growing community in an authentic way. Through those connections she was inspired to open Play, Work or Dash, a coworking space that also offers onsite childcare up to three hours per day. It is where like-minded professionals pursue their business goals with the extra level of support parents desire; a place where you "bring your kids to work." She is an active member of the Washington, DC blogger community. She has been published on The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Mamalode and Pop Sugar.

I wish I could commit but this month’s schedule is so wild for us. All of the descriptions about young blog love hit home, can totally relate! Reading, then rereading. I dont do that too often now, unless its a post that wrote itself. Then I read in awe. Good luck with the challenge. You all will do great!

[…] I started this blog on April 15, 2013 and got serious about it on June 3, 2013, when I started the 15-Day Blog Writing Challenge. To have come this far, in this amount of time, gives me so much motivation to keep going. To dream […]

Hello! Let Me Introduce Myself…

My name is Nicole Dash and I am a mother of four (two boys and two girls) living outside Washington, DC in Northern Virginia. Tiny Steps Mommy is my heartfelt blog about life, family and finding yourself amid the chaos.
I have always considered myself a writer. Even when I wasn’t producing a word, I knew in my heart that I was a writer. I … Click to Learn More